St. Louis CITY SC Bolsters 2026 Coaching and Technical Staff
MLS St. Louis City SC

St. Louis CITY SC Bolsters 2026 Coaching and Technical Staff

Published on January 9, 2026 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
St. Louis City SC News Release


St. Louis CITY SC announced several additions to its coaching and technical staff ahead of the 2026 MLS Season, adding first team assistant coaches David Sauvry and Marcelo Sarvas, along with Colin Rooney as Director of Scouting. Head Coach Yoann Damet's coaching staff for the upcoming season will also include Baggio Hušidić, who will serve as a first team Individual Player Development coach, and Alex Langer, who returns for a fourth consecutive season as first team goalkeeper and set-piece coach.

Sauvry joins CITY SC as an assistant coach after most recently serving as an assistant coach at FCV Dender EH in Belgium's first division. Sauvry, who holds Canadian Soccer Federation Senior A and B licenses, worked as an assistant coach at CF Montréal under head coach Marco Donadel and former head coach Laurent Courtois. Sauvry also served as an assistant coach under Damet while at LA Galaxy II during the 2022 USL Championship season. He began his coaching career with Celtix du Haut-Richelieu, a Canadian semi-professional soccer club, where he spent seven years in roles including head coach and technical director. Damet and Sauvry have shared a professional relationship for over 20 years.

Sarvas will be one of Damet's assistants after serving as an assistant coach at Costa Rican club, L.D. Alajuelense, which won the Liga de Fútbol de Primera División in 2025. Sarvas holds USSF A and B coaching licenses and spent several years with LA Galaxy in multiple positions, including as assistant coach with Galaxy II under Damet before becoming head coach following Damet's promotion to the club's first team. The São Paulo native also served as head coach of Galaxy's U-17 and U-19 academy teams. Prior to his coaching career, Sarvas played five seasons in MLS, including time with LA Galaxy where he won two MLS Cup championships as well as Colorado Rapids and D.C. United. He began his professional playing career in Brazil and had stints with several top-division Swedish and Polish clubs before joining L.D. Alajuelense as a player, where he helped the club win the 2011 Liga de Fútbol de Primera División.

Rooney, a St. Louis native and graduate of Saint Louis University, joins CITY SC as the club's new Director of Scouting after working for English Premier League side Everton F.C. as their Senior International Scout. He began his career as a technical scout with Turkish team Galatasaray before joining Toronto F.C. in 2012 as the first team's Head of European scouting. During his ten-year career in Toronto, Rooney helped the club win multiple trophies including the 2017 MLS Cup championship, four Canadian Cup championships, and the 2017 MLS Supporters Shield. A dual American and Croatian citizen, Rooney also spent time in Croatia scouting European players for Toronto FC.

David Critchley will resume his position as Head Coach of St Louis CITY2, with Elvir Kafedžić joining him as assistant coach for the 2026 MLS NEXT Pro season.

"In addition to being excited about Yoann building out the first team coaching staff and adding to our scouting capabilities, having Critch return to lead CITY2 is a win for the club and our CITY2 players, especially with all of the additional first team experience he gained over the last six months," said CITY SC Sporting Director Corey Wray.

Critchley, one of the academy's first hires in 2021, played a key role in the program's early success before earning a promotion to CITY2 last season. He later stepped in as interim head coach for the first team midway through the year, guiding the team to a strong finish. Kafedžić, who also joined the academy staff in 2021, has served in various roles at the club including as an individual player development coach with the first team since the club's inaugural MLS season.

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